Sports Movie of the Week — ‘The Wrestler’ [VIDEO]

WrestleMania XXVIII, the 28th edition of World Wrestling Entertainment's premiere event, is scheduled for this Sunday, April 1 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

With participants like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and John Cena crossing over into mainstream entertainment, WrestleMania's grand stage can be a star-making vehicle for the competitors.

While thousands of skilled wrestlers compete in professional wrestling circuits, the stark truth is that few grapplers will ever make the transition into superstars. In fact, many wrestlers can't escape the transient lifestyle and harsh realities that a career in pro wrestling may bring them.

Our Sports Movie of the Week, 'The Wrestler,' effectively dramatizes pro wrestling's gritty, unglamorous side. In the 2008 film, director Darren Aronofsky brings us inside the world of Randy 'The Ram' Robinson (Mickey Rourke), an aging, former star wrestler who now works part-time at a grocery store to help pay his bills, while he appears on small wrestling cards with dozens, not millions, of people watching.

With serious health issues that could end what's left of his wrestling career, the middle-aged Robinson begins to attend to personal matters, such as the daughter he abandoned (Evan Rachel Wood) and a love interest with flaws of her own (Marisa Tomei). A promoter offers Robinson the opportunity to return to a larger wrestling stage and fight his biggest rival 'The Ayatollah,' but he may do so at the peril of his health and his personal relationships.